This invention relates to a damper system for adjusting the amount of air flow in an air conditioner.
A conventional air conditioner damper system is shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, wherein reference numeral 1 designates an air conditioner body comprising an indoor unit 3 and an outdoor unit 4 mounted on a base 2 with a predetermined interval therebetween and adapted to be inserted into a wall opening. A cabinet 5 of the indoor unit has a front face provided with a panel 8 having a suction inlet 6 and a blower outlet 7. A casing 9 forming an air flow path F is provided within the cabinet 5. A cooling unit/evaporator 10 for cooling the indoor air and a blower fan 11 driven by an electric motor (not shown) are provided within the casing 9. An outlet nozzle 12 is disposed in front of the fan. The remaining components such as the condenser, the compressor, etc. (not shown) are mounted within the outdoor unit 4 and are connected with each other and to the evaporator 10 by a refrigerant fluid piping arrangement (not shown).
The cabinet 5 and the casing 9 are provided with an air intake aperture 5a and a suction aperture 9a, respectively, and a damper system 13 is provided therebetween. The damper system has a tube-like duct 16 fixed to the cabinet 5 by screws 14, a damper 18 for opening/closing the air intake aperture 5a by the movement of a wire 17a of a damper cable 17 to thereby adjust the amount of air flowing in the duct 16, and a cable holder H. The duct body 15 has an outlet opening curved to accord with the shape of the casing, and a side portion provided with a shaft groove 20 having a slit 19. A cable support bracket 24 is integrally formed with the duct body 15, and has a rectangular hole 22 for receiving a pawl 21a of a cable clamp 21 described below, and a boss 23 for mounting the clamp by a screw 31.
The damper 18 has a flap or vane 25 inserted into the duct body 15 through the slit 19 to open or close the aperture 5a, and a pivot portion 26 rotatably supported in the groove 20 and integrally provided with a cable wire connection arm 27 to which the wire 17a of the cable 17 is connected. An L-shaped damper lever 28 (FIG. 8) is pivotally attached to a lever support 30 fixed to a plate 29 and has an operating knob inserted through the plate at one end. The other end is connected with the cable wire 17a.
In such a conventional air conditioner damper system the clamped end of the cable 17 pressed against the bracket 24 tends to work loose with repeated usage and over time, and when such end becomes movable in the longitudinal direction when the wire 17a is operated by the damper lever 28, it often becomes impossible to completely open or close the damper 18.